Dirt road residents want to seal deal

By Casey NeillBy Casey Neill
MENZIES Road residents say their street is “more dangerous than it’s ever been”, and are stepping up calls for Yarra Ranges Council to keep a 29-year-old promise.
Michael Holman moved to the dusty, narrow Menzies Creek road just months before the now-defunct Shire of Sherbrooke promised to seal it at a public meeting.
Almost three decades later, he and other residents from the road’s 68 homes are lobbying the current council to keep its predecessor’s pledge.
The full Menzies Road Action Group committee met on 30 January to plan its next move.
Mr Holman said residents have sent more than a dozen letters to shire CEO Glenn Patterson, Lyster Ward councillor Samantha Dunn, and the council’s roads manager.
“The only thing that thing happened was they put a counter on the road – during the school holidays, when traffic is a quarter of what it is during school time,” he said.
Mr Holman said cars were regularly towed from roadside ditches, many becoming stuck after swerving to avoid a collision with another motorist on the narrow road.
“It’s more dangerous than it’s ever been,” Mr Holman said.
He said dust was “out of control”.
The action group has met with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and lawyers regarding compensation for respiratory health issues stemming from fine dust particles.
“In winter the road is a muddy bog heap that is so pot-holed residents at times have to drive up onto the nature strip,” Mr Holman said.
“If it’s not wet, it is so dusty that if two cars go past you cannot see the homes on the other side of the road.”
Mr Holman said the shire had paid to seal the road’s non-residential end to assist tourist buses.
“This was supposed to have been sealed at the council’s expense and at the government’s expense 29 years ago,” he said.
The group will finalise its strategy at another meeting later this month.
Cr Dunn said the shire had more than 800 kilometres of unsealed roads to manage and maintain.
“And does not have the funding to construct all of these roads,” she said.
“As a result, the council has set up a partnership program with residents, where residents and the council share the cost to construct a road through a Special Charge Scheme.”
Cr Dunn said she had met with residents to explain that the council would consider a special charge scheme – where both parties contribute to road sealing costs – if there was enough support from landowners.
“In the meantime, the road will continue to stay on the council’s Dust Suppressant Program,” she said.